Alexander Mackenzie
(Featured August 2003)
Alexander Mackenzie was the second Prime Minister and the first Liberal Prime Minister of Canada. (Not to be confused with the Canadian explorer Sir Alexander Mackenzie 1764-1820)
He was born in Scotland where he was a trained stonemason. He left Scotland in 1842 when he followed his sweetheart and her family to Canada. Over the following three years he courted Helen Neil. He married her in 1845 and they had one child.
His political career actually began with the Reform Party which eventually became the Liberal party. Aside from forming the first Liberal administration of the Dominion of Canada, his government is also responsible for establishing the Secret Ballot in 1874, founding the Royal Military College, creating the Supreme Court and the Office of the Auditor General.
His mark can continue to be seen in the buildings he helped erect working as a stonemason. Some of which include: the Welland Canal, Martello Towers at Fort Henry, Episcopal Church and a bank in Sarnia and the Courthouses and jails in Chatham and Sandwich.
Political Career Timeline:
Canuck Quotes
"However narrow and inexperienced Mackenzie may be, I imagine he is a thoroughly upright, well-principled, and well-meaning man.""I have always held those political opinions which point to the universal brotherhood of man, no matter in what rank of life he may have taken his origin."
"But I refer to it now merely to say this: that the Reformers of this country will remember -- those who were not alive at that time by reading, and those who were alive by having been in the midst of these events -- with gratitude that it was the great leaders of the Reform party who first gave perfect civil and religious rights to the people of Canada "
Trivia Eh?
Born January 28, 1822 in Logierait, Perthshire, Scotland
Was forced to quit school at the age of 13 but continued to educate himself throughout his life
Fell through the ice on one of his winter treks across the ice from Wolfe Island to Kingston. Managed to get himself out and there after carried a pole
Married Helen Neil in 1845 and had one daughter (two other children died in infancy)
Refused Knighthood 3 times and never received it. The previous PM and the 6 that followed all accepted Knighthoods
His wife passed away in 1852. Re-married Jane Sym in 1853
Died: April 17, 1892, Toronto, Ontario and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery, near Sarnia, Ontario